The Thirty Years War, book 4 | Page 6

sacred laws of the
empire. They were ready to grant him the archbishopric of Mentz,
(which he already held as a conquest,) and only with difficulty did the
French ambassador succeed in preventing a step, which was as
impolitic as it was disgraceful. Though on the whole, the result of the
congress had fallen far short of Oxenstiern's expectations, he had at
least gained for himself and his crown his main object, namely, the
direction of the whole confederacy; he had also succeeded in
strengthening the bond of union between the four upper circles, and
obtained from the states a yearly contribution of two millions and a half
of dollars, for the maintenance of the army.
These concessions on the part of the States, demanded some return
from Sweden. A few weeks after the death of Gustavus Adolphus,
sorrow ended the days of the unfortunate Elector Palatine. For eight
months he had swelled the pomp of his protector's court, and expended
on it the small remainder of his patrimony. He was, at last, approaching
the goal of his wishes, and the prospect of a brighter future was
opening, when death deprived him of his protector. But what he
regarded as the greatest calamity, was highly favourable to his heirs.
Gustavus might venture to delay the restoration of his dominions, or to

load the gift with hard conditions; but Oxenstiern, to whom the
friendship of England, Holland, and Brandenburg, and the good
opinion of the Reformed States were indispensable, felt the necessity of
immediately fulfilling the obligations of justice. At this assembly, at
Heilbronn, therefore, he engaged to surrender to Frederick's heirs the
whole Palatinate, both the part already conquered, and that which
remained to be conquered, with the exception of Manheim, which the
Swedes were to hold, until they should be indemnified for their
expenses. The Chancellor did not confine his liberality to the family of
the Palatine alone; the other allied princes received proofs, though at a
later period, of the gratitude of Sweden, which, however, she dispensed
at little cost to herself.
Impartiality, the most sacred obligation of the historian, here compels
us to an admission, not much to the honour of the champions of
German liberty. However the Protestant Princes might boast of the
justice of their cause, and the sincerity of their conviction, still the
motives from which they acted were selfish enough; and the desire of
stripping others of their possessions, had at least as great a share in the
commencement of hostilities, as the fear of being deprived of their own.
Gustavus soon found that he might reckon much more on these selfish
motives, than on their patriotic zeal, and did not fail to avail himself of
them. Each of his confederates received from him the promise of some
possession, either already wrested, or to be afterwards taken from the
enemy; and death alone prevented him from fulfilling these
engagements. What prudence had suggested to the king, necessity now
prescribed to his successor. If it was his object to continue the war, he
must be ready to divide the spoil among the allies, and promise them
advantages from the confusion which it was his object to continue.
Thus he promised to the Landgrave of Hesse, the abbacies of Paderborn,
Corvey, Munster, and Fulda; to Duke Bernard of Weimar, the
Franconian Bishoprics; to the Duke of Wirtemberg, the Ecclesiastical
domains, and the Austrian counties lying within his territories, all under
the title of fiefs of Sweden. This spectacle, so strange and so
dishonourable to the German character, surprised the Chancellor, who
found it difficult to repress his contempt, and on one occasion
exclaimed, "Let it be writ in our records, for an everlasting memorial,
that a German prince made such a request of a Swedish nobleman, and

that the Swedish nobleman granted it to the German upon German
ground!"
After these successful measures, he was in a condition to take the field,
and prosecute the war with fresh vigour. Soon after the victory at
Lutzen, the troops of Saxony and Lunenburg united with the Swedish
main body; and the Imperialists were, in a short time, totally driven
from Saxony. The united army again divided: the Saxons marched
towards Lusatia and Silesia, to act in conjunction with Count Thurn
against the Austrians in that quarter; a part of the Swedish army was
led by the Duke of Weimar into Franconia, and the other by George,
Duke of Brunswick, into Westphalia and Lower Saxony.
The conquests on the Lech and the Danube, during Gustavus's
expedition into Saxony, had been maintained by the Palatine of
Birkenfeld, and the Swedish General Banner, against the Bavarians; but
unable to hold their ground against the victorious progress of the latter,
supported as they were by the bravery and military experience of the
Imperial